drones

Spain’s main problem is not weapons, fighters or drones. It is the number of hands you need to use them.

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In recent years, the defense debate in Europe has revolved almost exclusively around money and technology. It talks about percentages of GDPmodernization and new systems capable of changing the battlefield. However, there is a much less visible factor that ends up being decisive when it comes time to turn plans into reality. A decade of losing muscle. The news Europa Press gave it. Since 2010, the Spanish Armed Forces They have lost 13,300 troops and they carry a structural deficit that the Military Life Observatory describes as chronic. As of January 1, 2025 there were 116,739 soldiers in active service, very far from the legal minimum of 130,000 established by the Military Career Law. The gap ranges between 13,000 and 23,000 uniformed personnel, a figure that is practically equivalent to an entire army within the system itself. Objectives that are not met. Several weeks ago another news item put the target on an enlightening fact: the regulatory framework establishes a maximum of 50,000 officers and non-commissioned officers, but there are only 40,656 dashboardsincluding 227 generals, leaving a wide margin unfilled. In the troops and Navy, the budget ceiling has limited staff numbers to 79,000 for years, although it is barely exceed 76,000 troops. The distance between what is provided for in the law and what is available in the barracks is not temporary, but sustained over time. More budget on weapons, fewer hands to operate them. The strategic debate in Europe has turned towards the modernization of systems and increased spending up to 2.1% of GDPbut the emphasis has not been transferred with the same intensity to the staff. Weapons programs and technological capabilities are expanding, but the number of military personnel is barely growing or even go back. Hence all this leads us to another reality very different from what we usually think: Spain’s main problem is not fighters, drones or new systems, but rather the great number of staff missing to use them and keep them operational. A 2025 that closed in negative. Despite the government’s commitment to increase staff by 7,500 personnel in four years, 2025 ended with 832 fewer soldiers than the previous year. The drop was especially pronounced at the officer level, where a thousand professionals they abandoned or passed to the reserve without sufficient replacement. Although non-commissioned officers and troops registered slight increases, the global balance was once again negative at a time when the international environment demands just the opposite. Lack of interest. The interpretation of these data leaves little room for doubt. The number of places offered has increased, but the proportion of applicants per vacancy has decreased worryingly. In the troop area the ratio has fallen to 4.2 applicants per placefar from the levels of a decade ago. In officers and non-commissioned officers, the descent is even more pronouncedwith fewer candidates and a worse selection margin, which limits the quality of replacement and anticipates problems of generational change. Salaries, mobility and little incentive for promotion. There is much more, as the report points to lower salaries to other bodies of the State and to an accumulated loss of purchasing power that discourages a military career. Constant mobility can imply a higher cost of living and low salary compensationleading many to give up promotions. The result is that “little interest” in progressing within the institution and a structure that ages without sufficient renewal. Stressed and aged. The other elephant in the room: more than a third of the dashboards exceeds 50 years and the troops also show progressive aging, while the reservists have decreased steadily since 2014. For its part, female participation grows slightly up to 13.1%above the NATO average, but it does not compensate for the overall loss of troops. I remembered the newspaper El Mundo that the system is also facing an increase in harassment complaints that adds reputational pressure at a time of low recruitment. Material capacity without critical mass. All this leaves a more or less illuminating map. Spain is investing in capabilities and is committed to increasingly demanding international missions, but it does so with less staff that fifteen years ago. The organizational structures and operational commitments have not diminished, rather the oppositewhile the human base it doesn’t stop shrinking. From that perspective, everything indicates that, if the trend is not reversed, the country may find itself with a future where the Armed Forces are modernized in equipment, but without the critical mass necessary to sustain them over time and respond reliably to an increasingly demanding strategic environment. Image | Air and Space Army Ministry of Defense Spain, Spanish Army In Xataka | Spain has a dilemma that is difficult to solve: call the US or be the last with a fighter jet in danger of extinction In Xataka | Spain has built a laser that shields the backbone of its Navy: the A400M is now ready for combat

If the US attacks Iran with drones, it will be in for a surprise. Russia shielded its sky with an explosive weapon: Verba

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It we count last week. In the Middle East, crises rarely erupt overnight. First pieces move away from the spotlight, discreet commitments are signed and deployments multiply that seem routine. Only later, when everything falls into place, do you understand that the board had been preparing for something bigger for weeks. Now we know that Washington has not been the only one that has prepared. Agreement sealed in the shadows. counted this morning in an exclusive the financial times that Iran and Russia signed a secret contract of almost 500 million euros for delivery of 500 lVerba portable spears and 2,500 9M336 missiles. It would be Tehran’s most significant move to rebuild air defenses devastated after the 12 day war against Israel. The Iranian request came just days after its integrated network was seriously degraded by Israeli and American attacks, which allowed enemy aircraft to operate with superiority over large areas of the country. The agreement provides deliveries until 2029although the media explained that there are indications of early shipments, and it is complemented with night vision devices and other equipment that points to a phased but urgent reconstruction. What are Verba and why do they matter. The Verba system is a portable guided missile infrared designed to shoot down drones, cruise missiles and low-level aircraft such as helicopters, operated by small mobile teams that can deploy dispersed defenses without depending on fixed radars vulnerable to bombing. These are not heavy strategic systems like lthe S-300 or S-400but rather a flexible tactical layer that complicates helicopter operations and low-level flights. Its adoption is rapid, requires less integration and allows Iran to reinforce critical points at a relatively acceptable cost for Moscow, which can supply them without weakening substantially its own defense against Ukraine. Verba missile carrier A military alliance despite sanctions. Apparently the contract was negotiated between Rosoboronexport and the Iranian Ministry of Defense, with intermediaries already sanctioned by Washington, in a context of growing cooperation that includes Iranian drones employed by Russia in Ukraine and a bilateral treaty signed in 2025. Moscow thus demonstrates that it has no intention of abiding by Western sanctions or the arms embargo reactivated by European powers, while Tehran tries rebuild the relationship following the perception that Russia did not come to their aid during the latest conflict with Israel. The flow of cargo flights and the reception of attack helicopters Mi-28 reinforce the image of a active and sustained military association. The largest deployment since 2003. It we count last week. The agreement emerges in parallel to a massive accumulation of American air and naval power in the Middle East, with dozens of F-35, F-15 and A-10 fighters deployed at bases such as Muwaffaq Salti in Jordan and Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia, in addition to two aircraft carrier groups led by the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald R. Ford. In total, about 40,000 troops and a fleet comparable to the one before the 2003 invasion of Iraq support Donald Trump’s threats to impose a nuclear ultimatum on Tehran. Iran, for its part, warns that it would respond by attacking US bases in the region if hit. A reinforcement that changes the risk calculation. The new systems They will not turn Iran into a conventional rival comparable to the United States or Israel, of course, nor will they prevent sustained air campaigns if these are executed with technological superiority. However, they can raise cost and risk of specific operations, especially helicopter raids or low-altitude attacks, and prolong a possible conflict by making initial phases of aerial suppression difficult. In an environment where each shootdown would have a disproportionate political and strategic impact, the mere presence of hundreds of mobile launchers introduces a tactical deterrence variable. A preparation race. What does seem quite clear is that the combination Iranian rearmament and American deployment draws a scenario of maximum tension in which diplomacy and force advance in parallel. Tehran seeks to buy time, rebuild defensive layers and negotiate from a less vulnerable position. Washington tries to pressure with a demonstration of power without recent precedents in the region. What happens in the coming weeks will not only determine whether there is an attack or an agreement, but also whether the Russian-Iranian alliance is consolidated as a military axis capable of openly challenging the sanctions regime and reconfiguring the strategic balance of the Middle East. Image | ТАСС In Xataka | It is so small that it can barely be seen from space, but this secret island is the main problem for the US to attack Iran In Xataka | If the most advanced US nuclear aircraft carrier maintains its speed it will reach its destination on Sunday: a bad omen for Iran

a Russian startup has hacked their brains to turn them into drones with wings

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Nothing more a priori innocent than a pigeon flying over the buildings of a city or perched in a square. Or not, because in addition to being just another city dweller (sometimes excessively so, which becomes a problem), pigeons have been used as discreet express messengers from the ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations. And also in war scenarios: in World War I, the United States Army created a carrier pigeon service called United States Army Pigeon Service for tactical messaging when all else failed or was destroyed. Now the Russian startup Neiry assures having given them one more twist: it has turned pigeons into biological drones. An electrode in the brain. What the Russian company proposes is not to biomimic a drone so that it resembles a pigeon, but to convert this animal into a transport vector by equipping it with implanted neural interfaces. More specifically, they implant electrodes in the brain, which are then connected to a stimulator attached to the head. That is, a kind of GPS that speaks with the brain of the bird. Neiry explains that the interface provides mild stimulation to certain brain regions, thus causing the bird to (artificially) prefer a certain direction. Otherwise, the bird behaves naturally. This system does not replace the bird’s will, but rather biases its sense of orientation to follow pre-established routes. Why birds? According to the Russian startupthe objective is to use biological carriers in situations where drones have limitations in range, weight or others such as a restricted area. Alexander Panov, CEO of the company, explains that birds can maneuver in complex environments, fly for long periods and operate in places where drones are restricted, such as collects Bloomberg. Anyone who has handled a drone knows that there is one critical element: the battery. Unlike unmanned aerial vehicles, a pigeon does not need to change its battery nor does it require frequent landings: its nature gives it everything necessary to carry out a long-distance flight. Millions of years of evolution make a bird beat any commercial drone and its 20-minute battery life in terms of flight stabilization and energy efficiency. In fact, up to 400 kilometers a day without stops. Pigeons with backpack. In the test flights that Neiry has carried out with these pigeon drones, the birds were equipped with this neural interface, in addition to a small backpack with the controller, solar panels mounted on the back and a camera. Of course, without giving as much singing as a drone, they did not go unnoticed, as can be seen in the video provided by the company. Pigeons are just the beginning. Panov has explained that although they currently focus on pigeons, “different species can be used depending on the environment or payload.” Bloomberg echoes of other similar implantations, such as the brain of cows for NeuroFarming, so that they produce more milk. And a rather spooky ultimate goal: “to create the next human species after Homo sapiens: Homo superior.” Possible applications. After the tests, the company ensures that the system is ready for practical implementation. According to Neiryhave no plans to use these birds for military purposes despite the fact that in a war or surveillance scenario their use is disruptive: the radars are programmed to filter out winged fauna as ‘noise’ or false positives. In short: they would go unnoticed. Among the ideas of use where they see an opportunity are infrastructure inspection, support for search and rescue, coastal and environmental observation or monitoring of remote areas in places like Brazil or India. Where is the ethics?. Mechanical drones are easier to control, they are capable of carrying larger loads and obviously, they do not need to feed nor will they defecate on you. And that’s not to mention the ethical implications of altering an animal’s behavior. Gizmodo details that after the surgery to implant the chip, the pigeons are almost ready to fly, so the risk “is low for the survival of the birds.” Of course, the startup has not provided independent third-party reviews, which makes specialists question the ethical implications of its technology. The bioethicist and law professor at Duke University Nita Farahany affirms that “Every time we use neural implants to try to control and manipulate any species, it is disgusting.” In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has become something absurd: there are drones shooting at Russian soldiers dressed as “penguins” In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is unprecedented: Russia is not launching drones, it is launching “Frankensteins” Cover | sanjiv nayak and Andreas Schantl

drones sewn to other drones turned into lethal monsters

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Since the first drones went from being simple surveillance platforms to weapons capable of change entire battlesthe war in Ukraine has incorporated these machines in layers, always due to necessity and adaptation. First reconnaissance UAVs, then armed drones, then swarms and loitering munitions. The latest has transformed the war into a new phase. Drones with drones. The war in Ukraine has crossed a disturbing threshold by entering fully into his Frankenstein phasewhere drones “stitched” to other drones give rise to improvised, but highly lethal, spawns. Russia has begun using larger aerial platforms as motherships transport and launch FPV attack very far from the front. The consequence is clear: the idea that FPVs are short-range tactical weapons is broken and a new strategic layer is inaugurated based on hybrids assembled with battlefield logic, not so much laboratory logic. Gerbera as a bringer of death. In this scenario a main actor appears. He Gerbera dronelight, rudimentary and cheap, was born as a simple decoy to saturate defenses during attacks Shahed type. Over time he began to carry small explosive charges and now it has been adapted for something even more disturbing: carrying an FPV hanging and releasing it in mid-flight. In fact, there are photographs and videos released at the beginning of this month of February that show this evolution already in usenot as an isolated experiment but as an emerging pattern. If you will, this type of “Frankenstein drone” has begun to walk alone. A nurse launching an FPV The logic of the graft. The first evolutions we had counted last year. The reason for this combination between drones is not only technical, but deeply operational. A fixed-wing drone can fly hundreds of kilometers, but lacks the agility needed to hunt down small or moving targets. The FPV, on the other hand, can, for example, enter through a window, follow a person or hit an exact point, and launching it from a mothership solves its great historical limitation: the scope. It is the sum of two weaknesses that together become a strength. Future swarms and the shadow of the Shahed. Although the Gerbera can only charge one FPV, at least for now, everything indicates that it is a test bed for something bigger. Industrial and military logic suggests that larger platforms like the Shahed could ttransport several drones of attack, increasing the probabilities of impact and allowing multiple targets to be attacked in a single mission. What’s more, the concept is vaguely reminiscent of a kind of bomber that does not launch bombs, but rather small autonomous hunters. Frankenstein is still in its early stages, but its final form is already apparent. The communications web. Plus: given the limitations imposed by Starlink blocking by SpaceX a few days ago, Russia has resorted to an invention that we had not seen in the war: sets of mesh spokes of Chinese origin that allow drones to communicate with each other and extend control in successive jumps. We are talking about a system that is already quite expensivebut it reduces dependence on satellites and opens the door to deeper and more impactful operations. In the medium term, Russian experts they point to another mutation o variant of the flying monster: FPV sets with greater autonomy and capacity own decisionin this case less dependent on the human operator and much more difficult to neutralize. Background: more AI. From battlefield to global problem. It is possibly the last of the legs to analyze with the appearance of these models. Ukraine has demonstrated an exceptional ability to shoot down carrier drones before they launch their charge, but now the concept is already out of the bottle. FPVs launched from mother “mothers” can destroy radars, anti-aircraft systems, aircraft on the ground or even armored columns at distances that were unthinkable until very recently, all at a ridiculous cost compared to traditional missiles. In other words, this new Frankenstein phase It is not just a quirk of war in Ukraine: it is a disturbing preview of the future of conflict, one where innovation aims to be hastily “stitched” with available parts and devastating results. Image | UNITED24 In Xataka | Ukraine has found what it needed in an unexpected ally. Spain had the missing piece against the shahed drones In Xataka | Russia has activated the “dandelion” armor: the scarier the tank, the more confused Ukraine’s drones are

the “eyes” to anticipate Russia’s drones

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Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has had to fight a parallel battle far from the front: to convince his allies of what weapons he needed, when and how far that aid could go without cross sensitive political lines. Between delays, partial vetoes and fears of escalation, air defense became one of the most critical bottlenecks for months, leaving kyiv exposed to campaigns missiles and drones while the international response moved more slowly than the war. A radar that changes the calculation. Therefore, the arrival in Ukraine of the Spanish radar LTR-25 launcher represents a qualitative leap in its air defense, by incorporating a long-range detection capacity capable of identifying threats to more than 450 kilometers. From drones and cruise missiles to ballistic systems and stealth aircraft, radar will help in a conflict where Russia has made massive and combined air strike one of its main instruments of attrition. The system, developed by Indra, is neither a prototype nor a future promise, but rather a technology already validated by NATO on its eastern flank, designed to operate in environments saturated with interference and electronic warfare and to integrate without friction with the Western batteries that protect the Ukrainian sky. The unexpected ally. Another reading of the movement is clear. Ukraine has just received from Spain what it had been taking for months claiming the United States: a true long range defense that allows us to see Russian attacks coming early enough to organize an effective response. While Washington has been reticent to give up certain sensors and strategic capabilities, Madrid has taken a step that changes the Ukrainian defensive depth, offering not only interceptors, but the necessary “eyes” to anticipate and coordinate defense against waves of missiles and drones that seek to saturate the system. In that sense, the LTR-25 is not just another radar, but a critical piece that extends reaction time and reduces Ukraine’s structural vulnerability to Moscow. Technology proven in the most demanding environment. The LTR-25 radar operates in L-band with phased array architecture and digital beam forming. In other words, it has characteristics that allow it track hundreds of targets simultaneously with great precision even under electronic attack, a key capability to detect low radar signature targets such as Shahed drones or cruise missiles. Your mobility tactics and philosophy “turn on, detect and move” reinforce its survival on a front where Russia tries to hunt radars and command systems, and its integration with command networks and NATO control makes it a force multiplier for systems such as Patriot, SAMP/T, IRIS-T or NASAMS already deployed in Ukraine. Silent revolution of Spanish industry. For decades, Spain maintained a low profile in defensebut in the meantime it was building an advanced technological base that today emerges strongly on the European stage. Here one name rises above the rest. Indra, with one of the largest radar factories on the continent, has supplied systems to countries like franceGermany or the United Kingdom, and now translates that knowledge into a real conflict that acts as possibly the toughest testbed imaginable. Hence this delivery symbolizes a profound change: from discreet partner to strategic provider of critical capabilities in high-intensity warfare. Beyond the gesture. If you also want, the delivery of the LTR-25 It is part of a much broader shift in Spanish policy towards Ukraine, one backed by an unprecedented military and financial support package and staged at the highest level by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Beyond symbolism, the contract with Indra opens the door to future deliveries if the system proves effective, consolidating industrial cooperation that reflects a broader European trend: technological alliances of all colors that, pushed by war, evolve towards full and lasting defense associations. Image | Indra, RawPixel In Xataka | Russia has activated the “dandelion” armor: the scarier the tank, the more confused Ukraine’s drones are In Xataka | Russia has activated the “dandelion” armor: the scarier the tank, the more confused Ukraine’s drones are

China has just crossed a red line in Taiwan. They are no longer drones, they are their fighters shooting “attached” to the Taiwanese F-16s

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China has been tightening the siege on Taiwan for years with pressure constant and calculated: increasingly frequent air raids, naval exercises large scalesymbolic crosses of the midline of the strait and military deployments designed to rememberwithout firing a single shot, that the island lives under permanent surveillance. This strategy of attrition, made of demonstrations of force and controlled ambiguity, has marked the relationship between Beijing and Taipei long before the current pulse reached disturbing levels. One (another) red line. If a few weeks ago we said that China had taken a qualitative step in its military pressure on Taiwan by crossing the island’s airspace with a military dronehas now redoubled its efforts, going from intimidating maneuvers to direct aerial encounters with manned fighters flying meters away and firing flares near Taiwanese planes, an escalation that multiplies the risk of accident and turns intimidation into something much closer to a deliberate clash. during exercises “Justice Mission”J-16 planes of the People’s Liberation Army not only came dangerously close to Taiwanese F-16s when they came to intercept them near the middle line of the strait, but they also arrived to launch flares at close range, a maneuver considered unsafe even by demanding military standards and that marks a before and after in the face of previous, more indirect provocations. From symbolic pressure to physical risk. In just 24 hours, dozens of Chinese aircraft crossed the midline of the strait and penetrated the airspace controlled by Taiwan, showing a pattern of behavior that no longer seems to seek only to saturate radars or send political messages, but rather to put enemy pilots in extreme situations. Unlike radar jamming or the presence of military drones, these encounters centimeters away introduce a human and physical factor. much more dangerouswhere a mistake, turbulence, or knee-jerk reaction can trigger an immediate crisis between China and Taiwan. One of the Chinese J-16 fighters photographed during Chinese People’s Liberation Army military exercises while being monitored by a Taiwanese F-16V aircraft Intimidating maneuvers. The actions were not limited to direct harassment: Chinese fighters used concealment tactics flying close to H-6K bombers to evade radars, revealing itself, according to local Taiwanese media, “ostentatiously” by displaying missiles at close range, in maneuvers compared by observers to historical tricks of military infiltration. They remembered in the Financial Times That this behavior, described by some sources as more typical of a “thug” than a professional pilot, reinforces the feeling that Beijing is testing new risk thresholds to measure the Taiwanese and allied response. A regional pattern. What happened around Taiwan is not an isolated event, but part of a incident sequence in which the Chinese air force has raised the tone towards neighbors like Japan and the Philippinesincluding blocking radar and firing flares against patrol aircraft. In fact, analysts warn that the next logical step in this escalation could be to operate regularly within the 12 nautical miles of Taiwanese territorial airspace, a scenario that would then exponentially increase the risk of collision or armed confrontation. Political pressure and risk of lack of control. If you like, this increase in boldness coincides with those publicized changes in the chain of command China and with political pressure from Xi Jinping for the armed forces to demonstrate their preparation for an eventual conflict, which could be pushing pilots and commanders to take risks that were previously avoided. Under that prism, Beijing would not only have crossed another red line against Taiwan, but would have entered a phase in which aerial intimidation ceases to be a calculated game and becomes a much more dangerous gamble, one with potentially explosive consequences for regional stability and security. appearance of “third parties” on the board. Image | 日本防衛省・統合幕僚監部, Ministry of National Defense In Xataka | China already has drones capable of shooting with surgical precision at 100 meters. Not good news for Taiwan In Xataka | The biggest geopolitical risk on the planet is not Greenland. It’s a smaller island with a disturbing neighbor: Taiwan

Russia has a tank so ugly it seemed like a joke. And the most surprising thing is that Ukrainian drones don’t know what to do

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Since the first months of the invasion, the war in Ukraine has become in a laboratory military “tuning” in real time: armored civilian trucks with steel doors, cars with improvised cages against anti-tank missiles, artillery protected with logs or bars welded in haste. As in other long conflicts, when technology does not arrive or is not sufficient, armies resort to bungle creative. From this ecosystem of ugly, urgent and desperate solutions is born the story of the strangest tank of this war… and also one of the most disconcerting for its enemies. Strange but armored. It we have counted other times. On the Ukrainian battlefield, Russia has led improvisation to an extreme almost cartoonish, deploying tanks covered in cagesspikes, cables, rods and metal layers that have earned them nicknames such as “turtle”, “hedgehog”, “furry” or, now, “dandelion”. At first glance they seem like a joke or a symptom of industrial decay, grotesque artifacts closer to scrap than to modern military engineering, but their proliferation responds to a brutal reality: Ukraine’s FPV drones have made classic armor insufficient, forcing Russia to add outer layers whose sole objective is to gain centimeters, time and confusion against attacks that were previously lethal. Origin and evolution. These protective screens, popularly known like “cope cages”began to be seen months ago, when the proliferation of drones transformed land warfare. Initially they were installed only on battle tanks and armored vehicles, but soon they spread to a wide range of systems. Your designs vary greatly: Some structures are crude and heavy, others are better planned, incorporating metal cages, steel plates, chains, spikes, camouflage nets and even reactive armor to reinforce the most vulnerable areas. In the Russian case, some tanks have become completely coveredwhich has earned them the nickname “turtle tanks” due to its resemblance to the shell of these animals. The simple principle that unsettles drones. The logic behind these designs is so rudimentary as effective– If the drone explodes before hitting the main hull, the shock wave loses much of its destructive power. In that sense, the “latest” model, the “dandelion tank”, with branched metal rods and tensioned meshes, works as a three-dimensional barrier that detonates the FPV from a distance, while there are already versions with cables, chains or spikes that seek the same effect from different angles. There has even appeared a sort of brush cutter tank Russian. Every extra centimeter between the explosive charge and the armor increases the chances of survival, and in a front saturated with cheap drones, that minimal advantage can make the difference between a disabled vehicle and one that continues fighting. In fact, this Russian anti-FPV system has migrated to its UGVs. In a video Seen on networks, the Russians claim that this “Courier” UGV survived the attack by a Ukrainian FPV and was recovered, although remembering that the additional weight of the cables will reduce the capacity vehicle loading. From the initial mockery to the silent cup. Yes, because what began as an object of ridicule among Ukrainian soldiers laughing at the welded cages and absurd profiles, has ended in imitation. The Ukrainian forces themselves have begun to equip some of their vehicles with similar protections, and the concept has even spread to NATO armies, with Western French vehicles. testing solutions inspired by these “dandelions”. The implicit message is, above all, uncomfortable: it may be ugly, crude and inelegant, but in real war is working better that many sophisticated solutions that have not yet come to the forefront. Hidden costs and obvious limits. There is no doubt, like so many other extravagant designs in the Ukrainian war, these improvised capes are not a panacea. They add weight, raise the profile of the vehicle, reduce mobility and they offer no real protection facing precise artillery or attacks from below, a tactic increasingly exploited by Ukrainian drones. Furthermore, and here the modus operandi of war, the more time passes, the more operators learn of FPV to identify gaps, adapt trajectories or use new techniques to avoid these metal shields. They are temporary defenses, effective but doomed to lose ground as the adversary figures out how to break them. An absurd race that defines modern warfare. Still, the central fact remains: Russia has created tanks so strange that they seemed like a jokeand for a time they have achieved something unthinkable, leaving enemy drones without a clear answer. In a war of attrition, cheap and experimental, where every day they look for emergency solutionsthese grotesque layers symbolize the current conflict better than any doctrine: a constant race of trial and error, in which even the most absurd can become, even for a moment, the best defense available. Image | Telegram In Xataka | The cold is so savage that Ukraine has activated the most kamikaze option: the “50,000 Russians per month” or giving Moscow what it wants In Xataka | “A human safari”: going outside in a Ukrainian city is now equivalent to being a shooting target for drones

The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones

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In the crystal clear waters of Southeast Asia, where the Strait of Malacca meets the South China Sea, a war is being fought that does not appear in conventional military reports. There are no trenches, but there are rusty helmets that turn off their GPS signal to disappear from international radars. This is the kingdom of the “ghost fleet”, an ecosystem of lawless ships that, according to the latest researchhas found its safe harbor in Malaysia, doubling its activity in just twelve months. However, the time for impunity appears to be running out: from the use of artificial intelligence to the deployment of naval drones, technology is beginning to illuminate the darkest corners of the ocean. The black market boom. The situation on the east coast of Malaysia has ceased to be an open secret and has become a global security problem. According to the specialized media Seatrade Maritime“ship-to-ship” (STS) oil transfers have recently doubled, going from just seven weekly operations to peaks of fifteen in just one year. This increase responds to an infrastructure designed to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia, Iran and Venezuela, using Malaysian waters as a gigantic clandestine service station before the crude oil continues on its way, mainly to China. Analyst Charlie Brown, of the organization UANIhas managed to capture a disturbing reality through satellite images and direct photos. In mid-January 2026, some 60 vessels linked to Iranian oil and another 30 with Russian and Venezuelan cargoes were waiting at anchor in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. These ships not only operate outside the law, but they do so under deplorable technical conditions. Images distributed by UANI show tankers with false names broadbrushed on their hulls and flags of convenience hidden under tarps to deceive authorities. The metamorphosis of the threat. What began as a purely economic strategy to keep Moscow’s revenue flowing has mutated into something far more dangerous for European security. As the chronicles of my colleague Miguel Jorge relate in XatakaRussia has converted part of this fleet into covert hybrid warfare platforms. It’s not just about moving barrels; Now these ships incorporate “technicians” who, under a civilian guise, are usually special forces veterans or mercenaries linked to the Wagner group. These agents wield authority that often exceeds that of the ship’s captain and have been accused of photographing military installations and monitoring underwater cables in EU and NATO waters. An example of this tension was experienced with the oil tanker Boracaywhich after embarking Russian technicians in the Baltic, was intercepted by the French navy off Brittany after suspicious drones were detected flying over critical infrastructure in Copenhagen. The ghost fleet is today, in essence, an extension of the Kremlin’s security apparatus sailing with impunity under the flags of countries like Gabon or Gambia. A new fragmented energy order. From the academic level, the Elcano Royal Institute’s analysis highlights that this phenomenon is the symptom of a “deglobalization” of the gas and oil market. In your reportresearcher Gonzalo Escribano explains that international value chains, previously based on efficiency and transparency, are being replaced by “geoeconometrically armored” circuits. Europe finds itself at a crossroads: although it seeks to disassociate itself from Russian energy, the persistence of these black markets complicates strategic autonomy. This fragmentation has even reached the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) market. According to Bloombergsanctioned Russian gas transfers have been documented in Malaysian waters, a technically much more complex operation than crude oil. The ship Pearlmanaged by an opaque company based in a Dubai hotel, is the face of this new network that desperately seeks buyers in Asia for the gas that Europe no longer wants. The technological response: AI and drones to the rescue. Faced with a fleet that “turns off” the real world by hacking GPS signals (spoofing) and the shutdown of transponders, the response is being purely technological. The middle CNBC highlights thatof the ships loaded with Iranian crude in 2025, 96% made dark transfers and 77% falsified their location. To combat this “blackout”, Ukraine has shown the way with an innovation that has made conventional fleets obsolete: the use of artificial intelligence in naval drones. The drones Be Baby have multiplied its capabilities thanks to AI, allowing precision attacks from thousands of kilometers away. In a recent operation near the Turkish coast, these drones hit Russian ghost fleet tankers, specifically targeting their rudders and propulsion systems. The objective is not to sink them, which would cause an ecological disaster of catastrophic dimensions, but to render them useless and turn them into an unbearable economic burden for those who operate them. This “precision offensive” is forcing insurers and shipping companies to reconsider the risk of collaborating with Moscow, raising the costs of war for the Kremlin. The dilemma of safety and the environment. The proliferation of elderly ships, without liability insurance and with dubious maintenance, is an environmental time bomb. Lars Barstad, CEO of the operator Frontline, warned in the Financial Times that organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) appear to be “sleeping at the wheel”. Barstad notes that it is only a matter of time before a major disaster occurs, as these ships operate outside of any regulatory framework. Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure increases. The US has begun a campaign of aggressive seizures, such as that of the ship Sailor (before Bella 1), which was boarded by the US Coast Guard in North Atlantic waters after a chase from the Caribbean. This “gunboat diplomacy” of the 21st century, analyzed by the Atlantic Councilposes immense legal challenges: once a steel giant full of crude oil is seized, the maintenance and storage costs are astronomical. The end of the shadow. The current geopolitical dashboard report shows that Malaysia, Spain or the waters of the Caribbean are just scenes of a larger battle for visibility. The ghost fleet survives in the shadow of legal ambiguity, but the advance of artificial intelligence and constant satellite monitoring are tightening the fence. As the analysis concludes from my partnerthis is not a frontal … Read more

In this city in Ukraine, going outside is not an option because of the drones. So they have found a solution: live underground

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For decades war was thought of as a recognizable front line, with more or less secure soldiers, trenches and rearguards. The massive emergence of drones has dynamited that scheme: the sky has become a permanent hunting ground, the distinction between combatant and civilian has been blurred and entire cities now live under the constant threat of cheap and lethal machines that can attack at any moment. In Ukraine they have forced everyday life to hide underground to continue existing. Kherson and the threat behind the windows. The key Ukrainian city has become the most extreme example of how drones have transformed war and civil lifeto the point that going outside has become the closest thing to a “death sport”, with Russian quadcopters operating from the other bank of the Dnieper that they hunt random people in what the Ukrainians themselves describe as a “human safari.” In a city of wide avenues and tsarist architecture, today the sky is the true enemy, responsible for hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries in a single year, in what the United Nations and human rights organizations describe as war crimes and the world’s most intensive use of drones against a civilian population. Live underground. Faced with the impossibility of completely protecting the surface, life in Kherson has declined literally underground. There is no rhetoric, since they literally live underground with hospitals, maternity wards, public offices, theaters and cultural spaces moved to basements and former Soviet shelters, while playgrounds have been replaced. through underground game rooms and all schools in the city operate only online. This forced displacement has created a strange and oppressive routine in which day-to-day life passes between corridors, bunkers and improvised roomsbecause any exposure to the open sky can end in seconds with a guided explosion from a remote camera. It is the real version of any scenario that science fiction cinema or literature ever staged. Improvised defenses. Faced with this omnipresent threat, the authorities have deployed a combination of solutions that illustrate the extent to which the city lives in an almost post-apocalyptic future, with kilometers of anti-drone networks covering entire streets, mesh tunnels over the main access roads, electronic interference walls next to the river and hundreds of concrete capsules spread along the sidewalks to offer immediate shelter. Even so, those responsible themselves admit that nothing is completely effectivebecause drones evolve, dodge defenses, throw grenades or mines and turn any daily journey into a desperate race in which you cannot run faster than the machine you are chasing from the air. Live, not just survive. In this extreme context, the effort is not limited to keeping the population alive, but rather to preserving a minimum feeling of normalityespecially for the little ones, children, who grow up under constant stress and fear of going outside. In fact, there is a whole network of psychologists, educators and volunteers who organize dance, art or biology classes in basements, install sandboxes so that the little ones can touch the ground and even create spaces where choosing, playing and learning is a form of emotional resistance in the face of a war that invades everything. The idea is clear in Kherson: it is not enough to hide, you have to keep livingeven under layers of cement. The laboratory of a disturbing future. If you like, Kherson is not just a devastated city, but an advance which many fear will become the norm in many other conflicts of the future, one where cheap and precise drones democratize the ability to attack civilians with an ease that was unthinkable just a few years ago. Thus, after a Russian occupation, a liberation celebrated and an immediate return of horror from a distance, the city has been trapped a kilometer from the front, with a population reduced to a fraction of the original that, despite everything, refuses to leave. Underground, between networks, shelters and constant alarms, Kherson survives like a brutal warning of how the war of the future can empty the streets and push human life to simply hide to exist. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine In Xataka | A drone takes aim and blows up a Russian penguin in front. It is the result of an increasingly absurd war In Xataka | Three Russians surrender on camera: what was previously a “normal” scene in the war in Ukraine is science fiction

Ukraine has entered an inexplicable phase, that of its drones attacking Russians at absurd distances

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In every modern war there has been a moment when technology brutally shortened the distance between the front and death. In fact, it already happened with the machine gun in 1914 or with the precision artillery at the end of the 20th century. In Ukraine, everything indicates that is going through now that same turning point, one in which the combat stops being deep and maneuverable and becomes immediate, constant and suffocating. Drones as a dominant weapon. The figures from the Ukrainian war have made it crystal clear that drones are no longer a complement, but the main cause of death and destruction, responsible for between 70% and 80% of casualties on both sides according to European intelligence services. This massive lethality has transformed the conflict into something very more dynamic at a tactical levelbut also more rigid strategically, because the omnipresence of drones makes it extremely difficult for either army to achieve a decisive break from the front. The result is a war of attrition in which each meter is paid dearly and where the balance increasingly depends on industrial, technological and foreign political support. War underfoot. In this context, Ukrainian drones are operating at distances that just a year ago would have seemed absurd, attacking Russian infantry at just over one kilometer from the frontliterally and as rthey knew the controls in Insider, “under the feet” of their own positions. The use of elite drone units to strike so close reflects the extreme pressure on defensive lines and the need to stop Russian assaults before they reach the trenches, one of the deadliest scenarios for Ukrainian soldiers. Low-level air warfare has thus become a direct extension of hand-to-hand combat, with drones acting as the last barrier before human contact. Kamikaze combat. It is a war, and the doctrinal ideal is still to destroy the enemy several kilometers away, when it concentrates or prepares to attack, but the reality of the front has pushed Ukraine to use its best operators in immediate deletion tasks. More and more combat drones are dedicated to attack infantry instead of high-value logistics or systems, a very clear sign that combat has become shortermore reactive and closer to sacrifice. This drift towards an almost kamikaze logic does not respond to a tactical preference, but to the urgent need to save positions and gain time. Russia adapts. At the same time and as we have countedRussia has been closing the gap in drone warfare from the end of 2024adapting quickly and betting on mass productionand the recruitment of technical talent. The plans to manufacture tens of thousands of drones per year and active search for students with technological profiles show that Moscow assumes that mastery of the air at very low altitude is key to sustaining its ground offensive. This adaptation explains why the front has become so lethal and compressed, with both sides forced to operate under a constant threat from the sky. A question of distance. As the 20th century progressed, military evolution was marked by the elongation of the battlefield: improvements in aviation, missiles and precision weapons They allowed the enemy to be hit further and further away, reducing the need for direct contact. However, the war in Ukraine is reversing that logicbecause drones, cheap and everywhere, have compressed combat to unimaginable distances. The result is another historical paradox: there has never been so much capacity to destroy at long range, but it has never been so dangerous to be so close to the frontwith flying machines that turn every advanced meter into an immediate risk. War blocked by technology. In short, the enormous effectiveness of drones is making war, if possible, a little bloodieralthough less decisive. The saturation of the battlefield with sensors and flying munitions punishes any movement and reduces strategic maneuver options, turning the conflict into a protracted fight where industrial resistance and western support They outweigh local tactical victories. In this scenario, Ukraine fights ever closer, ever faster and, most disturbing of all, increasingly with less margin of errorin a battle where the distance between living and dying is already measured in seconds and meters. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, National Police of Ukraine In Xataka | 1,418 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine: the war has already lasted longer than the Soviet fight against Hitler In Xataka | The latest camouflages of Russian troops confirm an open secret: the war in Ukraine is the most Looney Tunes in history

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